I've been thinking, my last brew was supposed to be a session Belgian style pale ale with wheat, but it almost turned out too clean. It lacks the Belgian character I was really looking for and all the yeasty flavors and aromas are mostly bready with some light but bright citrus notes. Otherwise this is a super smooth easy drinking pale malty ale, but I just expected more spicy fruity notes out of it. ABV is only about 5%, but still. The temps were in the high 60s the whole time with no rise into the low 70s. Could that be the culprit? Yeast was WLP500 Monastery Ale Yeast.
Fermenting warmer (e.g., in the 70's) will increase the production of 'Belgiany' flavors (e.g., esters). Another 'knob' you could tweak is pitching amount (i.e., pitch a lesser amount of yeast). Cheers!
I'm guessing that you overpitched. A little abuse of the yeast via underpitching for Belgians might be worth a shot.
Belgian can be difficult to dial in. I don't have much experience with the monastic strains, because I tend to use saison strains. I pitch what the calculator tells me, have a dose of nutrient in the boil, cool to around 64-70, pitch, and let free rise. I ferment in my basement, so a pretty stable ambient temperature, but it still fluctuates with the seasons. Best results for fruitiness have been in the dead of summer.
I'm fermenting a Belgian style beer with WLP500 right now. I am doing a series of low-fermentation temperature beers this winter (go figure). Most of the yeast I am using is suited for lower temps, but not all of them. This one with the WLP500, which is one of my favorite strains, is at the end of the second week in the primary. I pitched at 64.5 degrees F and I've monitored it closely between 60 and 65F. Average about 62F. I'll take a sample later today and tell you what I taste.
Not as much of the unique WLP500 character stands out, but the aroma is there. The characteristic "plum" is there. I think it's blending nice with a rather heavy dose of Briess Aromatic
